Glastonbury Festival launches 2019 Emerging Talent Competition

The competition gives new artists from the UK and Ireland the chance to compete to play one of the main stages at this year’s festival. The winners of the free-to-enter competition will also be awarded a £5,000 Talent Development prize from PRS Foundation to help take their songwriting and performing to the next level. Two runners-up will also each be awarded a £2,500 PRS Foundation Talent Development prize.

Acts from any musical genre can enter the 2019 competition for one week only, from 9am Monday 28 January until 5pm Monday 4 February 2019 via glastonburyfestivals.co.uk.

Recent Emerging Talent Competition finalists include BBC’s Sound of 2019 list featured, Nigerian-born rapper Flohio, R&B singer Izzy Bizu (a 2016 BRITs Critics’ Choice nominee and winner of the 2016 BBC Music Introducing Award) and singer-songwriter Declan McKenna, who won ETC 2015 and subsequently signed with Columbia. The 2017 ETC winner was soulful singer Josh Barry, who has since toured with Rag’n’Bone Man and Gorgon City and is due to release his debut album this year.

Glastonbury co-organiser Emily Eavis said: "After our year off, we can’t wait to hear the latest crop of undiscovered music that’s out there. New music is hugely important to what this Festival is about, and the Emerging Talent Competition has helped us to unearth so many incredible artists from across the genres. Bring on the entries!”

Once the entries are in, a panel of 30 of the UK’s best music writers will help compile a long list of 90 acts. The longlist will then be narrowed down to a shortlist of eight artists by judges including Glastonbury organisers Michael and Emily Eavis, before the live finals in Pilton in April decide the winning act. For the past four competitions, all eight of the finalists were offered slots at that year’s Festival.